Susquehanna-Roseland line gets final approval from National Park Service

Jerry McCrea/The Star-LedgerView of PSE&G's North Jersey Susquehanna-Roseland transmission line in Montville.

Federal parks officials gave a final thumbs-up to a project that will double the capacity and the height of power lines that cut through the parkland on their way from Pennsylvania to Essex County.

After years of debate between power companies and environmentalists, the $1.2 billion Susquehanna-Roseland line got approval from the National Park Service, Public Service Electric & Gas said today.

“This new line will reinforce our nation’s critical energy infrastructure for future generations,” said Ralph LaRossa, PSE&G's president and CEO in a joint statement with officials from Pennsylvania's PPL Electric Utilities. “It will ensure that homes and businesses in a multistate region continue to enjoy safe and reliable electric service long into the future.”

Utility representatives have said for years that the project is necessary to avoid power problems that could result in brownouts or blackouts. The project would raise the lines’ capacity from 230-kilovolts to 500-kilovolts and raise towers from 65 to 80 feet to as high as 190 feet tall.

The project was assailed by environmentalists who believe it will ruin views at the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area and keep coal-fired plants open by enabling them sell power to East Coast customers.

Courtesy National Park ServiceThis National Park Service map shows the route of the Susquehanna-Roseland power line and federal park land impacted by the project. Construction is expected to begin in late summer or early fall 2013 on this stretch. The line is slated to be energized in 2015, linking the Berwick, Pa., area to switching stations in Roseland, Essex County, N.J.

The project already got unanimous approval from the Board of Public Utilities to run through 16 municipalities in Warren, Sussex, Morris and Essex counties along a 45-mile route already used for power lines.

To mitigate the project, PSE&G and PPL may offer as much as $56 million to buy land or do environmental work to offset the project’s impact.

That didn't impress some environmentalists, who point out that the company is guaranteed a rate of return for money spent on the project, including mitigation.